Ming
Ming was the base name given to a series of four robots across the history of Robot Wars. The team competed with the Ming robots from Series 3-7 whilst also entering in the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. Though never achieving much success in the main series - losing in Round 1 or 2 in all five appearances - Ming 3 won the Tag Team Terror as part of Nickelodeon Robot Wars alongside Rick. Versions of Ming Ming The original Ming, also known as Ming the Merciless, was a box wedge shaped robot, built over five weeks in the Cotterell family's garage, made from aluminium, steel and titanium armed with a serrated 23' circular saw (mistakenly quoted as 22' by Jonathan Pearce) that covered the robot's entire back. This disc spun counter-clockwise at 3200 RPM. The robot also had a "quaint" sound producing device that was supposed to distract enemy robots. Ming broke down early in its first fight, and when flipped over, the disc came off its axle on contact with the arena floor, shearing it off and causing it to fly across the arena. Ming 2 Ming 2 was a long metallic wedge shaped robot that entered Series 4. The machine weighed in at precisely 80.2kg, making it the heaviest in its heat, and the joint fastest at 15mph. Its wedge lead on to a front-hinged flipping panel. It was also invertible, and had two air-driven spikes, one on each side, for glancing blows. It performed much stronger than its predecessor, easily dispatching the seeded Diotoir before falling in the second round to The Morgue after suddenly breaking down. It also represented the UK in the War of Independence during the Christmas season of the Fourth Wars, although the Ultimate Guide makes the false statement that it was actually Ming 3 who took part. As revealed during an interview, Ming 2 had largely been created to get revenge over Mortis for the previous year's loss, and Andrew Cotterell expressed a desire to fight them again. However, the grudge ultimately went unresolved as both robots fell in separate heats and Ming 2 was eliminated in the second round of the War of Independence, losing to frenZy, whereas Mortis would go on to win the competition. Ming 3 Ming 3 was the most successful of the Ming robots, retaining the same motor-driven nose cone as Ming 2 as well as its body shape and speed, but the wheel guards were removed to save weight (this cost it significantly during its life). Ming 3's primary weapon was a large piercing claw added on top, very similar to Razer, powered by two screwdriver electric motors. It could double as a lifter at the rear, and had self-righting rods on the side of the piercer. The front wedge also raised, but it was likely unable to lift other robots, and was most likely active purely for Ming 3 to be able to move around the arena floor freely without getting its wedge stuck in the arena floor or a hazard. Just as Razer's was, the beak was drilled with holes to fit the weight constraints. Ming 3 first appeared in Extreme 1, and was upgraded for in Series 5. The robot was upgraded again for Series 6 with 3 tonnes of pressure behind the claw, a tough exterior of titanium T6 aluminium and stainless steel but was only two-wheel driven, front-heavy and did not like being damaged as shown against the likes of Supernova and Hypno-Disc. Ming 3 lost in the first round of Series 5 after a controversial intervention from Matilda, and did not achieve any major success in Extreme 1 or Series 6. However, it earned considerable success in Nickelodeon Robot Wars where it won the International Tag Team Terror alongside Rick, both representing the UK. Ming Dienasty The team's final robot was named Ming Dienasty, which entered in Series 7. The robot was constructed from an RCV (Radio Controlled Vehicle), which were produced by Andrew Cotterell's new company Robogeddon. The main reason that Ming 3 was set aside for this machine was because Cotterell wanted to gain publicity for his new company, but was forbidden from publishing corporate logos. Interestingly, Cotterell listed his robot's weakness as "temper tantrums". The RCV was given a Ming-theme paint job, and a powerful drill was added to the lifting arm that was built into each standard RCV, enabling it to self-right. Ming Dienasty had the special features of the RCVs - skid steering and four-wheel drive making it very manoeuvrable and controllable. The drill could spin at 3000rpm, but was unable to gain considerable purchase in its only Series 7 battle. The robot could reach speeds of 20mph, and had a 3cm ground clearance. Construction of the robot began in October 2001, but the robot was not finished in time for Series 6, so Ming 3 was used instead.http://web.archive.org/web/20020106231100/http://www.ming.ro/_wsn/page3.html Ming Dienasty was given the number 15 seeding for Series 7, after the intended number 4 seed Dominator 2 was unable to compete in the main competition due to a technical malfunction, before filming. It lost in the first round on a judges' decision. For unconfirmed reasons, despite its eligibility, Ming Dienasty did not participate in the All-Stars tournament in the Seventh Wars. Etymology Ming was named after a villain from Flash Gordon, Ming the Merciless, and the team wore outfits in later series to fit the theme, and also claimed to originate from the planet Mongo, the home planet of Ming the Merciless. In turn, the fictional character Ming the Merciless was named after the Ming dynasty of China, which Team Ming referenced in Series 7 with their robot Ming Dienasty. The Team Team Ming was captained by Andrew Cotterell, who was present in all five series where Ming competed. His son Alexander was present in every series of Robot Wars that his father competed in, although he was not part of the Ming Dienasty team in Series 7, instead competing with Zorro. Oliver Cotterell was also present from Series 4 through to 7, while Elliot Cotterell competed only as part of the Ming Dienasty team in Series 7, with the young Fox Abrahams also joining the Ming Dienasty and Zorro teams in Series 7. As the only adult member of the team, Andrew Cotterell was responsible for the repairs and maintenance of Ming, and was the driver of the robot in all of its appearances. Qualification The original Ming successfully qualified for Series 3 through attending the auditions. For Series 4, Ming 2 was originally due to fight V.I.P.E.R. 01, however technical difficulties forced its opponent to be replaced by Hard Cheese, their team’s middleweight, at the last minute. As a result, Ming 2 won the battle by flipping Hard Cheese over, leaving it unable to self-right, and qualified for the main competition. For Series 6, Ming 3 was placed up against The Hassocks Hog, Immortalis and Revolution 2. At the start of the battle, Ming 3 was immediately attacked by the other three competitors, and quickly found itself immobile after its safety link was removed, with The Hassocks Hog eventually going on to win the battle on a judges’ decision. However, Ming 3, along with Revolution 2, received discretionary places. Unlike the remaining seeds for Series 7, Ming Dienasty did have to attend the qualifiers for a place on the show, as it would only be granted a seeding later, following the withdrawal of Dominator 2. As with Team Mouse and Team Vader, Team Ming was able to qualify for the main competition with two robots, also qualifying with Zorro. Robot History Series 3 Ming's first round battle saw them go up against heat favourites Mortis. Prior to the fight, Alex Cotterell put on a huge white beard in an imitation of Mortis team's Arthur Chilcott. At the start of the battle, Ming attempted to turn around and use its spinning disc, but after one blow from Mortis' axe, Ming's mobility completely ceased, but the disc was still spinning. Mortis then slowly flipped Ming onto its side using its lifting arm, and Ming's disc flew off and across the arena on contact with the arena floor. However, Mortis then attacked the House Robots, and was overturned by Shunt and then pitted instead, leaving Ming totally unharmed (further) by the end of the fight when cease was called. However, the result still stood and Ming was eliminated from the competition. Series 4 Competing in Heat C of the Fourth Wars, Ming 2 was placed up against newcomers Bolt from the Blue and the handicapped number 21 seeds Diotoir in its first round melee. Ming 2 immediately flipped the weaponless and armourless Diotoir machine in the opening seconds of the battle. Diotoir could not self-right since the flipping arm of Diotoir was deactivated before the battle began; the robot then caught fire as it was right over the flame pit. This was enough for Ming 2 to go through to the next round of the heat along with Bolt from the Blue, however this did not stop Ming 2 from trying to shove Bolt from the Blue onto the flame pit as well before cease was called. In the Heat Semi-final, Ming 2 began as the favourites for its battle, going up against the reinstated The Morgue, who had already lost to a robot with a front-hinged flipper once already in this heat. The Morgue got underneath Ming 2, but could not lift it. Ming 2 then got underneath The Morgue, and flipped it, but The Morgue rolled back onto its wheels thanks to its barrel shape. Ming 2 then once again flipped The Morgue, but not over this time. The robots charged into each other, and The Morgue impaled its spikes into Ming 2's front and pushed it into Matilda's CPZ. They separated, and Morgue rammed Ming 2 once more, which surprisingly caused Ming 2 to stop moving. Ming 2 was then pitted by Sir Killalot and eliminated from the competition. Ming 2 returned for the War of Independence during the Christmas season of the Fourth Wars, representing the UK. In the first round of the competition, Ming 2 was drawn up against The Mangulator, representing the USA. In the battle, the two robots drove at each other several times in the early stages of the battle, but Ming 2 couldn't use its flipper effectively, since The Mangulator was an invertible machine. After a few more charges, Ming 2 rammed into The Mangulator side-on up against the arena side wall at speed, breaking off one of its wheels. The Mangulator could then only move in tight circles, and therefore could not get away from the incoming house robots, who then attacked and pitted the US machine, putting Ming 2 through to the semi-final round of the competition. In this battle, Ming 2 was to go to battle with the only first round winner from the United States, frenZy. Before the battle, the Ming 2 team figured that the best tactic would be to hit the axe full on, knocking off the chain and preventing it from self-righting if it was then flipped over by their flipper. However, in the battle itself, as Ming 2 charged in, frenZy struck Ming 2's body, breaking the receiver on/off switch. Ming 2's mobility completely ceased, only the flipper was left working on the robot. frenZy continued to hit Ming 2 until Dead Metal closed in and placed the immobilised machine on the arena floor flipper, where it was thrown into the air. Cease was soon called and Ming 2 was eliminated from the competition. Extreme 1 Ming 3 made two appearances in the first series of Extreme. Its first was a Mayhem qualifier battle, for a right to fight in the first Annihilator of the series. It went up against Wheely Big Cheese and Hypno-Disc, and it went in as the clear underdogs. Hypno-Disc dominated this battle as it focused its attacks on both opposing robots' exposed wheels. Ming 3 suffered especially, with its wheel sheared into pieces by the disc weapon very early on, right before a light flip from Wheely Big Cheese. As Hypno-Disc then sliced into Wheely Big Cheese, whilst also dodging the flipper, Ming 3 tried to bring its clamp down on Team Big Cheese's limping machine. This was all before one wheel after the other were completely severed by the spinning flywheel of Hypno-Disc. Refbot counted it out, along with the still-mobile Wheely Big Cheese, who was only moving around in circles at this point, declaring Hypno-Disc the winner of the mayhem. Ming 3 was thrown by the arena floor flipper and landed next to Wheely Big Cheese, who then tried to use what life it had left in flipping it. Ming 3's remnants were then pitted alongside Wheely Big Cheese, who didn't even fit in. Ming 3 also fought in a vengeance battle during the first series of Extreme, where it went up against Mega Morg. Team Ming was seeking revenge after Ming 2 was bested by the Welsh robot's predecessor The Morgue, in the Fourth Wars. Andrew Cotterell claimed this victory was 'by default', claiming Ming 2 broke down for no reason involving The Morgue. In this battle, Ming 3 started by repeatedly charging at the Welsh machine side on and burying its beak into Mega Morg's enormous barrel-shaped body, but causing minimal damage to Mega Morg's mobility or weaponry. Mega Morg then escaped Ming 3's grasp, only to accidentally drive into Sir Killalot's CPZ and be attacked by the house robot. Mega Morg then escaped from Sir Killalot and lightly rammed Ming 3, before cease was called for a judges' decision. The decision went in favour of Ming 3. Series 5 Fighting in Heat L, Ming 3 was placed up against Team Hurtz's new machine Terrorhurtz, in the first round. Ming 3 was unable to get a grip on the axe-wielding machine at all at first and got hit several times by the double-headed weapon of Terrorhurtz, fortunately, little to no damage was caused to Ming 3. Eventually, Ming 3 managed to grab hold of Terrorhurtz and started to drag it around the arena. However, as it was crossing an arena flame jet into the arena side wall, Matilda came out of her CPZ and hit Ming 3 with her flywheel weapon, immobilising Ming 3 completely. Terrorhurtz was able to escape, but cease was called, the judges intervened and the battle went to a judges' decision due to Matilda intervening unfairly before hand. The judges gave Terrorhurtz the victory nonetheless, whilst Team Ming was given an apology for what happened, but were still eliminated from the competition. Matilda was given a red card and "a good telling off" afterwards, according to Craig Charles. Nickelodeon In between its appearances in Series 5 and Series 6, Ming 3 made a one-off appearance in Nickelodeon Robot Wars, representing the UK in the International Tag Team Terror alongside partner Rick. Together, the duo faced Series 5 runner-up Bigger Brother and Heat Finalist Kat 3 in the UK qualifier. Although the battle started with a head-to-head between Rick and Kat 3, Ming 3 quickly got itself involved in the battle by using its crusher on the exposed wheels of the overturned Kat 3. This was avenged by Bigger Brother, which flipped Ming 3 onto the wall, and then over. When left alone, Ming 3 quickly used its self-righting mechanism to right itself, and launch a crucial crushing attack on Bigger Brother. Ming 3 would later be flipped over again by Bigger Brother, and lifted onto the side wall once more, but Ming 3's exposed wheels allowed it to drive away. Bigger Brother wedged under Ming 3 and drove it into the pit release button, but Rick almost managed to lift Bigger Brother out of the arena before 'cease' was called on a very close battle. After much deliberation, the judges declared that Ming 3 and Rick had won the match, so they progressed to the final of the tournament to face the American team of The Revolutionist and Spin Doctor. Ming 3 opened the battle by facing Spin Doctor, and it successfully withstood the blows of the horizontal spinner as Ming 3 edged it towards the arena entry gates. However, The Revolutionist was nearby at full spinning speed, and it struck the exposed wheel of Ming 3. A damaged Ming 3 retreated in favour of its partner Rick, although The Revolutionist would later jump into the air upon contact with Ming 3's wedge, allowing Rick to flip the American entry over, immobilising it. Ming 3 attempted to crush the baseplate of The Revolutionist, although no meaningful damage was caused, and Sir K grabbed Ming 3 by the wheel, dragging it across the arena. When dropped by Sir K , Ming 3 was left on its side, and had lost mobility to its wheels. Additionally, Sir K then dropped Rick out of the arena in an unprovoked attack, leaving the British side with no mobile robots when time expired, although the battle still progressed to a Judges' decision. The Judges elected to ignore the illegal attacks of Sir K, and based on the performances of Ming 3 and Rick while both robots were still active, they were declared to have won the International Tag Team Terror over the American teams. Series 6 Ming 3 participated in Heat H of the Sixth Wars. For the first round of the heat, Ming 3 was drawn up against newcomers The Hassocks Hog, along with two returning teams to the wars: Spam and Hot Pants. It immediately attacked The Hassocks Hog, but could not get a grip on it with its crusher. Hot Pants came into the fray, attacking the Hog with its pickaxe. Ming 3 then buried its beak behind Hot Pants' fired axe, while the other two competitors rammed it. Hot Pants was then pushed away onto the flame pit by Ming 3 and was completely immobilised, and was subsequently counted out. Sergeant Bash then swooped in and dumped Hot Pants into the pit of oblivion, and Ming 3 followed suit, targeting and soon pitting Spam. It appeared as though Ming 3 and The Hassocks Hog would go through to the next round, but the judges ruled that The Hassocks Hog has lost drive to one side long before Spam was pitted, so Spam took The Hassocks Hog's place in the second round, either way, Ming 3 was still through. In the second round of the heat, Ming 3 was placed up against rising heat favourites Supernova. In this battle, Supernova immediately targeted the wheels of Ming 3 and damaged them on the very first hit of Supernova's flywheel weapon. Supernova continued its attack on Ming 3, destroying the other wheel and Ming 3's self-righting arms on the claw as well, also loosening its tyres from its wheels. Ming 3 was soon immobilised to a halt and was later counted out by Refbot. To finish the battle, Ming 3 was thrown by the floor flipper and pitted by Shunt. Ming 3 was subsequently eliminated from the competition following this. Series 7 In its first round melee for the Seventh Wars, the number fifteen seeds Ming Dienasty were placed up against newcomers Ceros, Team Death's Metalis and the Dutch entrant Scraptosaur. In the battle, Ming Dienasty was almost immediately flipped by Ceros, but was eventually able to self-right using its lifting arm. Scraptosaur then flipped Ming Dienasty into the arena side wall and onto the flame pit, where it was positioned in a way that the lifting arm couldn't right it. Ceros then righted Ming Dienasty and chased the seeded machine down along with Scraptosaur. Ming Dienasty was harassed by Scraptosaur and Ceros, but managed to dodge away from their flippers, and then activated the pit release button. However, Ming Dienasty was managing to drill away at both machines and avoid their flippers at the same time, Ming Dienasty then drilled into Ceros' flipper, but then ran away from the incoming Scraptosaur. Ceros then began to leave the action as Ming Dienasty started shoving, drilling into and manoeuvring around Scraptosaur, who then got a light flick in on Ming Dienasty. Metalis then ended up being shoved by the Refbot into the pit of oblivion, right before cease was called. The battle subsequently resulted in a judges' decision, between the remaining three competitors, as time ran out. After much deliberation, the judges went in favour of both newcomers: Scraptosaur and Ceros. Despite competing in five series of Robot Wars, Ming Dienasty did not take part in the All-Stars tournament at the end of the Seventh Wars; the reasons for this are currently unknown. Results |} |} |} |} Wins/Losses *UK Wins: 4 *UK Losses: 7 *US Wins: 2 *US Losses: 0 Series Record UK Series US Series Trivia *Ming Dienasty was one of nine competitors in The Seventh Wars that competed in at least five series of Robot Wars but were excluded from the All-Stars tournament line-up later in the series. *Like the Plunderbird series and the robots entered by Adam Clark, Ming always lost in the first round of the main competition in the odd-numbered series. *In almost all of Ming's losses, the winner of the fight lost its next battle, with the only exceptions being Hypno-Disc and Ceros. *Ming 3's first round melee victory over The Hassocks Hog in Series 6 was essentially a vengeance match for its qualifier battle ahead of the same series, where The Hassocks Hog won the melee and Ming 3 was defeated. *Ming Dienasty and Terrorhurtz were the only seeds in Series 7 to fail to pass the first round (although technically Terrorhurtz withdrew before the tournament started). Interestingly, they also battled each other in the first round of the Fifth Wars. **Ming Dienasty is one of eleven seeded robots to lose in the first round of a UK Championship. It was also the last robot to have suffered this fate. **Ming Dienasty lost via a judges' decision, becoming only the second and last seed in history to lose in the first round via the judges, after 101 in Series 5. **Incidentally, Ming appeared in the same heat as 101 in Series 5, with both losing in the first round. *Ming ties with Lambsy for the greatest number of alliterative robots fought (Bigger Brother, Bolt from the Blue, The Hassocks Hog, and Mega Morg). Coincidentally, Ming itself started out as one; Ming the Merciless. *Spawned by some of Jonathan Pearce's introductions, Ming 3 has acquired a reputation as a "Razer clone". However, the Ming team have openly stated that Razer did not, in fact, have anything to do with the inspiration for the crusher. *Ming is one of three UK machines to be unbeaten in the US seasons of Robot Wars, the other two being its Tag-Team Terror partner, Rick, and Pussycat, who won the War of Independence. *Throughout the series that it appeared in, Ming never shared the arena with Mr. Psycho or Cassius Chrome. References External Links *Ming Website (Archived) Honours Category:UK Series competitors Category:Series 7 Seeds Category:Nickelodeon competitors Category:Tag Team Terror Champions Category:Robots with more Losses than Wins Category:International event only competitors in the US Series Category:Competitors in 5 Wars Category:UK Representatives Category:Robots from Somerset Category:Robots with alternate versions Category:Robots with Vertical Crushers Category:US Series competition winners Category:Robots Profiled in the Ultimate Guide Category:Seeded Robots to lose in Round 1 Category:Robots with Cutting Discs Category:Robots with Drills Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots to defeat a seed Category:Robots to appear in Battle Cards Pack 3 Category:Robots with names based on film and television Category:International Event Winners Category:Tag Team Competitors Category:Robots which outlasted three others in a 4-way melee Category:Robots with Front-hinged Flippers Category:Robots with a separate self-righting mechanism Category:Robots which debuted in Series 3 Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Extreme Warriors Season 1 Category:Robots with names based on literature Category:Robots with moving arms Category:Articles in need of images Category:Articles in need of rewriting